Chain of Shame

We are still learning about our livestock guardians dogs as much as they are learning their job requirements.  We discovered that Delilah is wonderful around the sheep.

Her calmness and quiet presence relaxed the sheep early.  Within days they accepted her amongst the flock.

I could easily leave her untethered at night in the barn or outside all day with them.  I never feared she'd hurt them in any way.  At only 10 months old, she is amazing.  I haven't even noticed any rough play with the lambs which is common in LGD's of that age.  Yep, I felt confident with Delilah guarding over the lambs.  The goats, however, was a different matter.

Especially the pygmy babies which she became far too excited over.

I'm pretty certain she's never seen a goat before.  They either brought out the predator in her or she thought they were a predator moving in on her flock.  Even if this was the case, poor Delilah ended up wearing the chain of shame.

I actually just learned about the use of a drag on adolescent dogs which the timing couldn't be more perfect.  I actually was thinking of Samson who would benefit from the drag, however, today it was Delilah who reminded me that no matter how mature she acted, she was still just a pup.